FISA: “a court whose secret rulings have in effect created a body of law separate from the one on the books”

The Washington Post reports on the secret FISA court and the immense power it wields, in secret.

The public is getting a peek into the little-known workings of a powerful and mostly invisible government entity. And it is seeing a court whose secret rulings have in effect created a body of law separate from the one on the books — one that gives U.S. spy agencies the authority to collect bulk information about Americans’ medical care, firearms purchases, credit card usage and other interactions with business and commerce, according to Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).